COLUMBIA, SC-Governor Mark Sanford appointed Bryan P. Stirling as a member of the State Election Commission on Tuesday, November 14, 2006. Mr. Stirling fills the vacancy left when the term of Commissioner John C. West expired.

Mr. Stirling graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1991 and received his Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1996. He formerly practiced law with a local law firm where he worked directly for the South Carolina Attorney General. Mr. Stirling's practice areas include real estate, real estate litigation, incorporations and government affairs. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the South Carolina Bar Association and the Richland County Bar Association. Mr. Stirling is a Member of the Board of Directors of Share Our Suzy a group that raises money for cancer patients. Bryan is also a volunteer Criminal Domestic Violence Prosecutor for the South Carolina Attorney General's Office.

COLUMBIA, SC- The State Election Commission met at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 15, 2006, as the State Board of Canvassers and certified the results of the November 7, 2006 General Election. Official General Election results can be found at http://www.scvotes.org/.

The board ordered recounts for the following offices:

Lieutenant Governor

State Superintendent of Education

State House of Representatives District 29

State House of Representatives District 115

Recounts will be conducted in each respective county election commission office beginning at 9:00 a.m., Thursday, November 16. Recount results will be posted at http://www.scvotes.org/ as they become available on Thursday. The State Election Commission will meet via conference call on Friday, November 17 at 10:00 a.m. at 2221 Devine Street, Suite 105, Columbia, SC, to certify recount results.

COLUMBIA, SC-Nearly 2.5 million South Carolinians will be eligible to vote in the November 7, 2006, General Election. That number has increased by approximately 140,000 since the 2004 General Election.

S.C. Election Commission encourages voters to become familiar with questions in order to help reduce long lines at the polls on Nov. 7

COLUMBIA, S.C. – To help reduce long lines and the amount of time voters must spend at polling locations on Election Day, the South Carolina Election Commission is encouraging voters to familiarize themselves with the subject matter and language used in the constitutional amendment questions that will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot.

South Carolina voters will face seven statewide constitutional amendment questions, with questions covering five topics that range from the definition of marriage to property tax reassessments.

“South Carolina voters will be asked to decide a number of questions on Election Day and we want to encourage them to be prepared,” said Marci Andino, executive director of the S.C. Election Commission. “By simply reading over the questions and determining their answers in advance, voters will be able to more readily respond to the questions on Election Day and help significantly reduce the wait time at polling locations for all voters,” she continued.

If you are registering in person, you must do so by Saturday, October 7. Contact your county office for hours of operation. Many will open on Saturday. If you are registering by mail, the application must be postmarked no later than Saturday, October 7.

1. Must Article XVII of the Constitution of this State be amended by adding Section 15 so as to provide that in this State and its political subdivisions, a marriage between one man and one woman is the only lawful domestic union that shall be valid or recognized; that this State and its political subdivisions shall not create, recognize, or give effect to a legal status, right, or claim created by another jurisdiction respecting any other domestic union, however denominated; that this amendment shall not impair any right or benefit extended by the State or its political subdivisions other than a right or benefit arising from a domestic union that is not valid or recognized in this State; and that this amendment shall not prohibit or limit the ability of parties other than the State or its political subdivisions from entering into contracts or other legal instruments?